Oscillating steam-engine



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

W. THOMAS. OSGILLATING STEAM ENGINE.

No. 464,206.` Patented Dec. 1. 1891.l

75M ZMM,

I (No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet 2.

W. THOMAS. OSGILLATING STEAM ENGINE. No. 464,206. Patented Deo. 1, 1891.

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4 E' |I I'IIM C I D .Il l m m 1a m UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM THOMAS,` OF ORINGTON, ILLINOIS.

OSCILLATINGl STEAM-ENGINE.-

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 464,206, dated December 1,1891. Application led April 7, 1891. Sleral No. 387,935. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM THOMAS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Orf ington, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Oscillating Steam-Engines, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a -construction of oscillating steam-engine resembling that set forth in Reissued Letters Patent of the United States No. 4,882, granted to Welch and Welch April 23, 187 2, but whereby it shall be readily responsive to reversal of its motion at any point of the piston-stroke without danger from or injury to it, and which shall be adaptable foi` advantageous use for all the various purposes Yof steamengines, whether stationary or locomotive, though I more particularly design it for the stationary class, including elevator, hoisting, mining, and marine engines.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a sectional View, taken on the line 1 1 of Fig. 2 and regarded in the direction indicated by the arrows, of the single form of my improved oscillating reversible Valveless steam-engine.` Fig. 2 is a similar view of the same, the section being taken at the line 2 2 on Fig. l and regarded in the direction indicated by the arrows, with the cylinder represented in elevation. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan vieu7 of the same, taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2 and regarded in the direction indicated by the arrows. Figs. 4. and 5 are views, respectively, like those presented in Figs. 2 and 3, but illustrating my improvement as a duplex reversible valveless steam-engine.

The principle involved in this engine is that of having the steam-cylinder or any desired number of such cylinders, each provided with two steam-passages leading,l respectively, to opposite sides of the piston, connected at its piston-rod with a crank on the shaft to be driven and suspended to oscillate on a stationary hollow pin, forming the steam-chest, divided by a diaphragm longitudinally into two chambers, each provided with two ports, caused by the oscillations of the cylinder to coincide simultaneously in pairs with the said steampassages, whereby the steam enters each cylinder altern ately against and exhausts alternately from opposite sides of the piston 'of the. frame, extending parallel With the crank-shaft, is a rigid hollow pin C, divided longitudinally by a diaphragm r into two chambers s and 0c, either of which affords the steam-chamber, while the other is for the exhaust, and at the opposite upper sides of the diaphragm are the ports lo and o, while at its opposite lower sides are the ports p and o.

D is a steam-cylinder having a thick upper head n, provided with a cylindrical transverse opening in which the pin C fits snugly.

E is `the piston, the rod m of which passes through the cylinder-head n', (Where a suitable stufting-box Z is provided, as indicated,) .and is connected by a yoke la with the crank on the shaft B, the crank also carrying a counter-weight w for the cylinder.

At one end of the hollow pin C (the opposite end being closed) is a head h, having at its outer extremity a steam-supply passage t', from nearwhich extend branch passages t" and 2, respectively, into lthe chambers s and and g is the exhaust-pipe leading .transversely from near the center of the head h, where a short passage s branches from it into a chamber containing a four-way throttle F. A steainduct f leads from the cylindrical opening in the cylinder-head n, housing the hollow pin C, and from a point above the diaphragm r down through the Wall of the cylinder D into the latter below the limit of the downstroke of the piston E. A verticallyshort duct f" extends from below the pin C into the cylinder D above the piston therein.

The operation is as follows: With the fourway throttle F turned to vthe position most clearly represented in Fig. 3, steam is entering the steam-chest chamber s, the duct f then eventually (when the crank is moved beyond the center) coinoidingwith theportp,the ports p and o being closed by the head n, and the passage f coinciding with the port o when the duct f coincides with the port p. Then the steam from the chamber s will enter the cylinder D against the upper side of the piston IOO chamber the ,port 19 leading from the steamchamber to the passage f and effecting closure of the ports o and p', whereby the steam enters below the piston and that above it is exhausted. Thus the oscillations of the cylinder D continue and rotate the crankshaft. l

Obviously'to reverse the direction of rotationfof the crank-shaft at either end of the relating to its single form, will be readily understood without detailed explanatiomas will also further multiplicationof the cranks, cylinders, and other parts of which my improvement will submit, to those skilled in the art to which my invention relates. Suffice it, therefore, to say that the one four-way th rottle F, one hollow pin C, one exhaust g, and one shaft B are all that is necessary, while the number of cylinders D, cranks on the shaft, and other details are multiplied in accordance with the number of such cylinders provided.

`My improved engine is powerful and rapid in its operation, because it takes steam and exhausts from both ends, and its simplicity, durability, and reliability referred to will be quite apparent from the foregoing explanation of its construction and manner of operation.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1An oscillating steam-engine comprising,in combination with-a frame and crank-shaft, a hollow pin, C, stationarily supported in the frame and containing a diaphragm r, dividing it into two chambers sand x,aport2o and a port p in the pin at one side of the diaphragm for the chamber s, a port o and a port 0 in the pin at the opposite side of the diaphragm for the chamber a steam-cylinder D, supported to oscillate on the pin and having its piston-rod connected with the crankshaft, two ductsf and f for the four ports in the hollow pin, the former leading at one end into the cylinder below the pistonl and coiny ciding at its opposite end in the 'oscillations of the cylinder alternately with the ports p and o, the latter leading at one-end into the cylinder above-the piston andvcoinciding at its opposite end in the oscillations of the cylinder alternately with the ports o and p', =a head h' at one end of the pin, forming an extension lengthwise thereof, having a steamsupply passage t and branches t and@2 leading, respectively, toward the chambers s and I0c and an exhaust g, and a four-way rotary` throttle F in the head between `the passage 1l and branches thereof, the Whole being constructed and arranged to operate substant-,tially as described. f

WILLIAM THOMAS.

In presence of- VJ. W. DYRENroR'rH,

M. J. FROST. 

